title: Can Florida become the first state in the United States to take heart disease out of first place? The Maryland versus Florida challenge.
abstract: The high morbidity and mortality from acute myocardial infarctions (AMI) prompted Dr. Raymond Bahr to challenge the author as to whether Maryland or Florida could be the safest state in which to have an AMI. He extended this competition spirit to a second debate as to which state would first take heart disease out of first place as the cause of death. Such a goal appeared laudable. But is it? Would AIDS, tuberculosis, or widespread cancer be a better way to die? Thinking not, Florida cardiologists established a goal to become the safest state, with the nation's largest percent of physiologically active centenarians, who would eventually die peacefully, even if due to a heart attack.
authors.affiliation: Prevention and Rehabilitation Center, St. Joseph's Heart Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital, Tampa, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: H D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: McIntosh
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D005431:Florida / Q000453:epidemiology; D006291:Health Policy; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008396:Maryland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012040:Regional Health Planning; D012955:Societies, Medical; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology